Saturday, June 18, 2011

Sources continue to claim Lazcano dead, while Army location of firefight differs from reported one

Mexican authorities and criminal groups offered no confirmation or denial Saturday of the death of Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano, the Zeta crime boss reportedly gunned down by rivals one day earlier in Matamoros.

Sources outside law enforcement independently confirmed Lazcano’s slaying Friday after firefights with the rival Gulf Cartel broke out early that morning across Matamoros.

Gulf Cartel enforcers took Lazcano’s body after he was slain near an international bridge linking Matamoros to Brownsville, sources familiar with criminal activity in Mexico said.

However, no corpse or other physical evidence of his demise had surfaced as of The Monitor’s press deadline Saturday.

A Mexican source outside law enforcement said that authorities in that country and known Lazcano associates in Veracruz, one of the capo’s areas of influence, had been trying without success to reach him since Friday afternoon. The Zetas gave no public confirmation or denial of his death, but the source said the crime boss was missing in action.

State and local authorities in Matamoros and neighboring cities were on high alert Saturday, a Tamaulipas law enforcement official said.

Three different sources with direct knowledge of criminal activity in Matamoros said the Gulf Cartel was circling its wagons in preparation for another incursion into its territory.

Three Mexican sources familiar with criminal activity in Matamoros said Lazcano arrived in that city Friday amid a convoy of more than 130 SUVs carrying fellow Zetas. However, firefights with the Gulf Cartel broke out shortly after 5 a.m. and continued throughout the day.

At some point, those sources stated, Lazcano attempted to flee gunfire along Lauro Villar Avenue, triggering wide-ranging firefights near Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates. Gulf Cartel enforcers snatched his body after he met his end near the border crossing.

Mexican authorities didn’t arrive until about an hour after the clash, according to the Mexican sources familiar with criminal activity in Matamoros.

The Mexican army issued a news release late Friday evening stating it had recovered a corpse from an SUV in the Pedro Moreno neighborhood – across town from where Lazcano was reportedly slain. The body’s features suggested it was not the Zeta boss but the military gave no indication whether fingerprinting or other, more conclusive forensic examination had been conducted.

The news release from the military mentions just one clash, which resulted in three dead and nine arrested.

U.S. federal law enforcement officials, however, said four Gulf Cartel members were killed in that battle and that Mexican soldiers provided support to the Zetas during that clash.

The military said in the news release that it had rescued 17 civilians.

However, a U.S. federal law enforcement official said the Zetas, aided by the military, tried to rescue 11 Zetas the Gulf Cartel had captured the previous day.

The news release from the Defense Ministry doesn’t mention several other firefights between the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas that took place in the city.

Firefights not listed in the release from the Mexican army also were reported in these neighborhoods: Mariano Matamoros, Puerto Rico, Sección 16 and Valle Alto, according to sources outside law enforcement and members of the Mexican news media.

A Mexican source outside law enforcement but with direct knowledge of the events said another firefight occurred in the rural Cabras Pintas area, where six members of the Mexican military not listed in the army’s news release also were killed.

The areas where the firefights were reported are easily accessible from the highway linking Matamoros and Ciudad Victoria.

Two independent sources outside law enforcement and with direct knowledge of the events said Lazcano was in the latter city recently and had been seen in Matamoros in the days leading up to his reported slaying.

Alejandro Poire, a spokesman for Mexico’s Public Safety Ministry, issued a statement via Twitter on Friday that information available at that time indicated Lazcano was not among dead.

No other public statement on the reports of Lazcano’s slaying was forthcoming as of late Saturday.

26 comments:

It seems there is a lot that is still up in the air. The official Mexican response doesn't pass muster. I'm not sure why they are denying it so adamantly if they don't even bother acknowledging prior confrontations between Zetas and CDF.

Fake, fake, fake! No physical body means no confirmation of death. This is sort of like that rumor about Jaleel White committing suicide. I mean, how can we believe anything if there is no evidence? Just because somebody else says something is true means I should believe it too? I should let other people do the think for me? Lame...

SUre wish we would see reports from media sources other than the monitor and the herald...they started this so I am sure they believed-believe their sources. But no one is talking about anything not even rumors. I have seen nothing on BDN either...

What if his body was recovered but was still alive...right about now old Lascy is taking it up the ass by Rey Misterioso until he coughs up some information among other things shoved into his mouth..ewwwwwww...you sick fucks.

He could me among the dead, you would think the rumor would have died down by now if it was that.

As for the military I'm sure they want to claim they killed Lazcano and not the CDG. It would be a huge public relations win for them, if comes out the CDG killed him, well then it's just a further spiral down in the war on drugs and they get no credit.

It's interesting that the government is denying Lazcano was killed, how the hell would they even know? It's not like the government controls this area exclusively, unless they talk to Lazacano on a regular basis or have talked to him since this rumors, there really isn't any way to know either way............

He not dead...all of you are morons including BB for posting this shit. For starters no one in Mexico is posting anything anymore from the Monitor and the Herald because they were wrong. EPIC FAIL! I wonder when the monitor and the Herald are going to apologize they fucked up. Just admit it. You fucked up and stop trying to spin this shit.

As more sources weigh in, it sounds more likely that Lazca is dead. It could still go either way, but now the side saying he's dead sound more believable than those saying he's still alive. And saying "no body means he's not dead" doesnt really hold true either. I never saw bin Laden's body, but im pretty sure he's not out there planning any more attacks. We'll just have to wait and see. Perhaps he is dead but Gulf doesnt have the body. Then we may never know for sure. But based upon reports from the ground, we can get a pretty good idea. Problem is, you cant trust CDG propoganda, cant trust Zeta propoganda, and cant trust the governments propoganda. Army backing up the zetas?? Disgrace

What sources? The only sources who keeps fueling these rumors are the Monitor and Herald haha...get your head outta of your ass. And just think. If its proven that they were wrong these two newspapers would loose all credibility.

this cooperation between the army and the z's is troubling and could explain the govt's refusal to report on a significant portion of the battle and the possible killing of z-3...i would bet there has been a major payoff to the commander of the army unit responsible for matamoros...

AT THIS POINT, THE STORY DOES SOUND RESONABLE BECUASE SUPPOSEDLY THIER IS AN ALLIANCE RIGHT NOW BETWEEN LFM AND THE ZETAS. COULD IT BE THAT LAZCANO CAME TO MATAMOROS TO CLEAR THINGS OF WITH CDG SINCE THEY TOO HAVE AN ALLIANCE WITH LFM AND ALSO HAVE A GROUP FORMED TOGETHER CALLING ITSELF MFG. IT CAN ALSO BEEN A SETUP TO KILL LAZCANO. WHO KNOWS?

this is unlikely because first of all, it would be just dumb to have exposed himself like this... I wish it to be true, but the odds aren't with us...I think.

Second, lets have a Mind Experiment: even if it was just 80 SUV's, four doors each, we can assume at least two knuckleheads per vehicle; that's +/- 160 units (not counting SEDENA). If the casualties and capture reports are somewhat believable, a 10% loss rate would put their losses at about 16-20 hombres. WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF A HVT LIKE THIS BASTARD BEING ONE OF THE KIA's?

...unlikely...unfortunately...

It would be a beautiful thing to see a snuff vid featuring this bastard, slowly cooking in a vat of used motor oil...pretty please, CDG?

Y'all have to know Lazcano is not going to be leading an assault on CDG. When can you remember him even surfacing. Why in the hell would a top figure be in a heated border town where allies become enemy daily. Come on, do you think Vicente Carrillo is in Juarez? LOL, do you think El Chapo is going to show up in Juarez leading a 120 SUV caravan. Who do these people think we are? Total pendajos?

This sounds more like Lazcano may have bought his way out of trouble and will now disappear forever a very rich man. This is his smoke screen, the red heron. I have wondered about the La Familia leader that supposedly died too.

And, whats up with the military support for the Zetas. In the last 6 months, large money and drug busts have happened over and over by the military on the Zetas. They kill an American agent, have ruined Monterey, and had been proclaimed public enemy number one in Mexico. Makes you wonder in the busted drugs and money were his way of paying off the government officials to turn a blind eye.

According to El Nuevo Heraldo, Heriberto “El Lazca” Lazcano Lazcano was killed at approximately 2 p.m. local time June 17 in Matamoros, Tamaulipas state, on Avenida del Nino at the intersection with Lauro Villar. It was reported that the top leader of Los Zetas was killed during a running gunbattle involving Gulf cartel forces.

A separate report by El Universal citing Mexican military sources indicated that three were killed and nine were injured in a firefight involving Mexican soldiers and marines against members of Los Zetas and the Gulf cartel near the Tomates international bridge in Matamoros. Mexican military sources denied that Lazcano Lazcano was killed.

That the firefight happened in Matamoros, a Gulf cartel stronghold, raises significant doubts about the reports of Lazcano Lazcano’s death. Indeed, one well-placed Mexican government STRATFOR source has reported that Lazcano Lazcano has not been killed. Also, a STRATFOR U.S. counterterrorism source has indicated that the body that sparked the rumors of Lazcano Lazcano’s death is currently being fingerprinted and undergoing forensic testing, but from the U.S. source’s perspective it is not thought to be him. It should be noted that if Lazcano Lazcano is indeed dead, there could be intelligence that is being acted upon before a formal announcement is made. However, rumors of his demise could well be false.

This hombre ain't no Jonus Brother; and yes, I'd gladly buy a ticket to his snuff film.

It used to be that if you wee watching a baseball game and didn't have a team you were rooting for (or didn't know the difference), you'd just sit and watch the game. For the rest of you knuckleheads... Just the facts:

Back before there was a "CDG," there were the legends that made a name for themselves in whatever kind of business they could get away with, without pooping in their own beds.

What the media calls "CDG" has long been the home team in Matamoros, east of the Sierra Madre Oriental and north of the Panuco River, through the Ladrilleras of Nuevo Laredo and beyond --on down the river to Washington Beach. Through the years they've grown up to be our grandfathers, fathers, uncles, brothers and children; ...the kids we hung out with at the quinceañeras, tias at the church loterias, the runt at the little league game or the shy kid at the school dance. Basically, they are us.

People could run their businesses without getting into the gutter; they could traffic in drugs all they wanted (IF THE FUCKING GRINGOS AND MORENOS WANTED THE SHIT, GIVE IT TO THEM) but weren't allowed to do shit work like kidnappings, extortion, murder for hire and muscle work that has become the cash-cow for many a Lazcano and his shit birds. People couldn't bring themselves to poop in their own bed by kidnapping your 2nd aunt's neighbor's husband, because he was likely your daughter's best friend's beloved uncle.

Yes, the reality is that, up until a few years ago, a soul was not a occupational hazard if you were in the business (Don't get me wrong!! If they had to fight, they'd have it out among themselves, away from the crowd, away from children's attention; and to the death to be sure!)

The Zetas (now) are interlopers without a stake in the community that CDG became an organic part of. The Zetas (now) are made up of old the CDG rejects; the shit birds that couldn't even get into the business because they didn't meet the pretty low standard of propriety within the community described above. The Zetas organization will take anyone's rejects because they need warm bodies. Anyone can be a Zeta.

So yes. I do root for my home team. I root for the men that didn't bother me when I went for a torta at "Las Tablitas," or a beer and some dancing on Alvaro Obregon, or a hot dog around El Lago, getting coffee at "Cappuccino's," buy dipers at Soriana, catch the hypnotist at Teatro Reforma, ...or be at home; go to work; be at peace.

May CDC shouldn't have killed jng their boss betrayed nephew snitched on the cook and killed the zetas family n left them in San fernando n no one would be n a mess! N for metro3 n gamma which means border protection who knows sell outs! Think about it?

I'm of firm beleif like one of the other Annonymouscharacters; that NO WAY this guy would drive into aCowboy and Indian scene. In Matamoras no less whereyour just a few miles from a Country that has a 5Million Dollar Bounty on your head! Do you think he's the "El Jeffe" because he's Stupid? He remembers where Decena bought it; I think he's got his moola stashed and he ain't coming out to play!